The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to claimed embodiments.
A virtual local area network (“virtual LAN” or “VLAN,” is a group of hosts with a common set of requirements, which communicate as if they were attached to the same broadcast domain, regardless of their physical location. A VLAN has the same attributes as a physical local area network (LAN), but it allows for end stations to be grouped together even when not on the same network switch.
Physically replicating the functions of a VLAN would ordinarily require separate and parallel collections of network cables and equipment separate from the primary network, a prospect which is costly and complex. Unlike a physically separate network, VLANs share bandwidth as payload traverses the same underlying physical connections. For example, two separate one-gigabit VLANs that share a single one-gigabit interconnection will encounter reduced throughput and increased contention and network congestion due to such a sharing arrangement, with the benefit of not having to physically reproduce network infrastructure.
Common network behaviors such as configuring switch ports, tagging frames when entering VLAN, looking up MAC tables to switch/flood frames to trunk links, and untagging when exit from VLAN are virtualized by VLAN compatible components.
Conventional VLANs are configured and established in advance, for example, by a network administrator, using VLAN compatible components.
A dynamic VLAN is a VLAN which is automatically created by a network switch and provisioned upon receipt and processing of a packet from a network interface. Unlike conventional VLANs, dynamic VLANs do not enjoy a well supported standard and, to date, multiple vendors have attempted to solve the problem of supporting dynamic VLANs through a variety of applications, with varying degrees of functionality and compatibility.
While work has advanced to some degree in the area of dynamic VLANs, current implementations are limited to supporting only untagged dynamic VLANs. Conventional solutions use a dummy or catcher VLAN for a specified port and upon encountering an untagged packet, a VLAN assignment will be established. However, this results in an untagged packet being assigned to a VLAN before it is actually a member of the VLAN. Conversely, tagged VLANs need to be pre-configured before the initial packet processing can occur, which defeats the purpose of the dynamic VLAN feature, and renders support for dynamic VLANs useless when packets associated with tagged VLANs are encountered.
The present state of the art may therefore benefit from the methods, systems, and apparatuses for dynamically tagging VLANs as is described herein.